Biographer moves in on Sarah Palin

Author Joe McGinniss, who wrote a book on Alaska called “Going to Extremes,” has literally moved in next door to Sarah Palin in Wasilla, Alaska, as he writes a biography of the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee.

Palin has responded by seeming to depict the bestselling author, whose career started when he eviscerated Richard Nixon in “The Selling of the President 1968,” as a threat to her family.

Fellow Fox News personality Glenn Beck was breathless and bombastic as he interviewed Palin, characterizing McGinniss as “a guy who has been hounding you, and I think stalking you, and writing a book about you.”

And Palin responded:
“People have said already, ‘Oh, this guy, he has his freedoms too, and he can live wherever he wants to.’ Well, of course he can and he can do what he wants to do. However, I think any mom, in my position, if they put themselves in my shoes, that they would feel the same way.

In “Going to Extremes,” McGinniss did a masterful job of depicting Alaska boomers, 49th state residents who believe the “Great Land” should be drilled and mined and logged
and hunted.

Wasilla is a sprawl of franchised food outlets, strip malls and box stores a little less than an hour’s drive north of Anchorage. “Alaska Best Places” did not recommend a single restaurant there, but the town has become a magnet for national media.

The New York Times ran a piece earlier this week on Palin’s post-gubernatorial life, in which she returns home after collecting six-figure fees for speeches, headlining Tea Party rallies, and endorsing candidates.

The former Alaska governor has used her Facebook page to make a big deal out of McGinniss’ decision to rent a nearby home for five months.

“We found out the good news today,” she wrote Tuesday. “Upon my family’s return this morning from endorsement rallies and speeches in the Lower 48 states, I finally got the chance to tackle my garden and lawn this evening!

“So, putting on the shorts and tank top to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure, I looked up in surprise to see a ‘new neighbor’ overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away.

“Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in . . . “